A little Jool texture I'm working on [RELEASED!]

[Felsmak]

Hello, everyone! So I've spent some time painting this little texture for Jool. I used the original as a reference for the cloud bands, but I then chose to use less intense colors and added a little belt of yellow near the equator. It didn't look quite real without it.

Okay, it probably still doesn't, but here it is, anyway!

Here's a model.

Here's what it looks like in-game.

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You may not download it here. Enjoy!

Edited June 26, 2016 by Felsmak

[mordin86]

It looks pretty awesome, I would like to use it in the future

[RogueMason]

Now that's a pretty Jool.

[Felsmak]

Thanks! Just need some more detail at the poles.

[NASAFanboy]

I agree.

There needs to be (much) fewer stars on the KSP skybox, and there needs to be lighter textures, along with more brightness. Right now, it's sorta depressing and unrealisticly fancy at the same time.

[papics]

It is pretty, reminds me of the style of the Jool in the Alternis Kerbol system. I am interested

[RogueMason]

I agree.

There needs to be (much) fewer stars on the KSP skybox, and there needs to be lighter textures, along with more brightness. Right now, it's sorta depressing and unrealisticly fancy at the same time.

Firstly, this isn't me being angry or whatever; this is Mr. Factstater speaking...

Fewer stars? Space looks devoid of stars in some pictures because they've been taken in broad daylight; in space, the Sun is drowning the rest of the stars out just like it does here on the surface. Go behind Earth or the Moon or any planet, and you block out the Sun, resulting in the stars becoming more visible than they would be at night here on Earth.

The standard KSP skybox has fewer stars than it should, plus those that are there look like blobs instead of points of light. It needs to be higher resolution, too... hell, it just needs replacing, but it is most likely just a placeholder, so it should happen eventually. Until then, Universe/Texture Replacer is perfect.

If you prefer your space to look empty, that's absolutely fine

I would like the game to be a tad (just a tad) brighter, though, plus I want the Sun to look more white than it currently is.

[NASAFanboy]

Firstly, this isn't me being angry or whatever; this is Mr. Factstater speaking...

Fewer stars? Space looks devoid of stars in some pictures because they've been taken in broad daylight; in space, the Sun is drowning the rest of the stars out just like it does here on the surface. Go behind Earth or the Moon or any planet, and you block out the Sun, resulting in the stars becoming more visible than they would be at night here on Earth.

The standard KSP skybox has fewer stars than it should, plus those that are there look like blobs instead of points of light. It needs to be higher resolution, too... hell, it just needs replacing, but it is most likely just a placeholder, so it should happen eventually. Until then, Universe/Texture Replacer is perfect.

If you prefer your space to look empty, that's absolutely fine

I would like the game to be a tad (just a tad) brighter, though, plus I want the Sun to look more white than it currently is.

It's just unnatural for me to walk on the Mun and see a lot of stars.

And I see lines in the skybox. Lines. Dark lines, like the black holes of the universe lined up in a cube outline for eternity.

I support seeing stars on the nighttime side, but the daytime side?

Absolute no-no.

.

[Felsmak]

I would really like to see the daylight effect implemented sometime in the future. The "lack" of stars doesn't bother me too much, though. I feel that a highly realistic skybox would look bad in a game like KSP - at least with the current graphics. The stars could certainly look more crisp, though.

It's possible that my texture is a bit on the dark side, however. I'll try giving it some brightness of its own.

It is pretty, reminds me of the style of the Jool in the Alternis Kerbol system. I am interested

Thanks! I actually used that as an inspiration. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Felsmak

[Raven.]

Oh wow, that is probably the best Jool texture that I've seen thus far. Keep up the work, and if you ever decide to release it, I'll download it .

[LaydeeDem]

You gotta tell me how you made that! It's amazing!

[Commander Zoom]

Put me down as another who'd like to give this a try, when it's ready.

[Trann]

Firstly, this isn't me being angry or whatever; this is Mr. Factstater speaking...

Fewer stars? Space looks devoid of stars in some pictures because they've been taken in broad daylight; in space, the Sun is drowning the rest of the stars out just like it does here on the surface. Go behind Earth or the Moon or any planet, and you block out the Sun, resulting in the stars becoming more visible than they would be at night here on Earth.

The standard KSP skybox has fewer stars than it should, plus those that are there look like blobs instead of points of light. It needs to be higher resolution, too... hell, it just needs replacing, but it is most likely just a placeholder, so it should happen eventually. Until then, Universe/Texture Replacer is perfect.

If you prefer your space to look empty, that's absolutely fine

I would like the game to be a tad (just a tad) brighter, though, plus I want the Sun to look more white than it currently is.

I find the Distant Objects mod quite nice to use here.

[Felsmak]

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate it.

It feels like I'm stuck at the poles at the moment, though. I really don't recommend anyone to start with making theirs white - it gets really hard to apply good colour overlays later! Haha.

But now I think I've found a good colour that doesn't look too out of place.

You gotta tell me how you made that! It's amazing!

I start with creating a few horizontal bars of different colours in Photoshop. Then I just blur them together and use the Liquify filter to paint the cloud formations. The many new shades created by the blurring are essential for this to work properly. It's also good to start with a large and not-so-dense brush at first, just to get a rough, wispy draft of the final map. Then you can increase the density and give the formations more detail. This makes the whole thing look a lot more defined and significantly less fluffy.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Felsmak

[Hyomoto]

It's just unnatural for me to walk on the Mun and see a lot of stars.

And I see lines in the skybox. Lines. Dark lines, like the black holes of the universe lined up in a cube outline for eternity.

I support seeing stars on the nighttime side, but the daytime side?

Yeah, check out Distant Objects which does exactly this. It isn't quite perfect, but while looking at a bright object such as a planet or the sun, the star field is gone. It's a trip as you take off to look down at the planet hanging in Stygian void. And it's a great compromise since you don't have to give up your stars and get great shots:

[Felsmak]

Seriously - bleep the poles!

[Transits]

That's a nice looking Jool

[The Yellow Dart]

That really is super beautiful. If you want an idea for the poles, Saturn has a gigantic hexagon at it's north pole that is really interesting looking, and both jupiter and saturn are known to have auroras/northern and southern lights. Those auroras would look awesome if they could glow on the dark side. Here is the hexagon around the north pole storm.

Here is an image of Saturn's auroras.

[Overfloater]

This Jool texture is fantastic!!! kinda cartoony/sci-fy-ish,

I think it's PERFECT in the ingame screenshot.

[Felsmak]

Saying "thanks" all the time is starting to feel a little awkward, but know that I still appreciate your comments very much!

If you want an idea for the poles, Saturn has a gigantic hexagon at it's north pole that is really interesting looking, and both jupiter and saturn are known to have auroras/northern and southern lights. Those auroras would look awesome if they could glow on the dark side. Here is the hexagon around the north pole storm.

That picture of the hexagon is a really nice detail reference. Thanks! I probably won't make an actual hexagon, though - I feel that would just make it a green Alternis. But we'll see!

Anyway, I think I'm starting to get something for the south pole - a special cloud formation. I call it the Pancake!

Or maybe... the Great Pancake?

Edited April 4, 2014 by Felsmak

[Astronomer]

Lovely!

Really fits into the game well.

[Felsmak]

Lovely!

Really fits into the game well.

Glad to hear that!

Here's the beginning of the north pole. I'm thinking about leaving it rather plain; the Great Pancake looks interesting enough already, and two interesting poles on one planet might make the poor Kerbals' heads explode.

And yet another in-game picture. Still an older version, but a little brighter.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Felsmak

[MarcRan17]

Awesome. I love this texture, and I can't wait to get my hands on a downloadable version. Jool has always bugged me a bit cause I feel like it's Highly unlikely or even impossible that a gas giant would have the coloration that Jool does in the stock game. Correct me if I'm wrong here, as my Chemistry knowledge is lacking, but there aren't many gases with that coloration and those which have similar color, are generally not found in great abundance such as this. Gas Giants are typically made of gasses found fairly low on the periodic table if I'm not mistaken, and compounds of those. things like hydrogen, Methane (carbon-hydrogen compound), Ammonia (Nitrogen-Hydrogen compound), and the like. A greet tinged gas giant is definitely possible, but deep emerald green seems out of place to me.

EDIT: Colour actually seems to be more so based off of the temperature of the giant see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudarsky_extrasolar_planet_classification this means that a green gas giant is possible, but it has to be very hot. Really then Jool probably shouldn't be green at all, but nonetheless your texture is far more plausible, and in my opinion it's much more beautiful

Edited April 4, 2014 by MarcRan17

[Bearsh]

Great! I'll look forward to using it, By the way howed you make it look so icey/snowey! on that planet you were landing on, Laythe if i'm correct?

[Felsmak]

I actually don't mind some artistic license every now and then, even if I personally tend to stick to a more realistic colour palette. I do find the temperature thing to be mildly amusing, though. Like a very sophisticated easter egg, or something.

Great! I'll look forward to using it, By the way howed you make it look so icey/snowey! on that planet you were landing on, Laythe if i'm correct?

Thanks! That would be Vall, though. It has been around for as long as Laythe and looked like that from the beginning.

Anyway, the texture is now available for download on the front page!